title: Royal sun medicinal mushroom Agaricus brasiliensis (higher Basidiomycetes) and the attenuation of pulmonary inflammation induced by 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK).
abstract: Agaricus brasiliensis currently is one of the most studied fungi because of its nutritional and therapeutic properties as an anti-inflammatory agent and an adjuvant in cancer chemotherapy. The effects of orally administered aqueous A. brasiliensis extract (14.3- and 42.9-mg doses) on parenchymal lung damage induced by carcinogenic 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) were observed in Wistar rats. NNK treatment induced pulmonary inflammation, but not lung cancer, in the rats. The lungs of animals treated with NNK showed a higher level of inflammation than those of the control group according to histopathologic examinations (P < 0.01) and kurtosis analysis (P < 0.001) of a global histogram generated from thoracic computed tomography scans. There was no significant difference in the alveolar and bronchial exudates between animals treated with a 14.3-mg dose of A. brasiliensis extract and the control without NNK. However, a significant difference was found between animals treated with NNK, received a 42.9-mg dose of A. brasiliensis (P < 0.05), and the controls not treated with NNK. We did not observe a significant difference between the kurtoses of the A. brasiliensis (14.3 mg) and control groups. However, a 42.9-mg dose of A. brasiliensis resulted in lower kurtosis values than those observed in the control group (P < 0.001). In conclusion, a low dose of A. brasiliensis was more effective in attenuating pulmonary inflammation. Similar to the histopathological results, the computed tomography scans also showed a protective effect of A. brasiliensis at the lower dose, which prevented gross pulmonary consolidation.
authors.affiliation: University Centre for Cancer Control, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Croccia
authors.forename: Agnaldo Jose
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Luis Felipe Ribeiro
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Armando Ubirajara Oliveira
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Sabaa-Srur
authors.forename: Luiz Carlos Aguiar
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.forename: Marcele Nogueira de Sousa
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Trotte
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tessarollo
authors.forename: Aristofanes Correa
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Haroldo Jose
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: de Matos
authors.forename: Rodolfo Acatauassu
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Nunes
mesh_terms: D000364:Agaricus / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008297:Male; D009602:Nitrosamines / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D009602:Nitrosamines; C016583:4-(N-methyl-N-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone